Qing dynasty and instagram

The temple is in possession of many Qing Dynasty antiques. Most were given to the temple as a gift around the time it was first built. One of the first we were shown was an old wooden table with swirls engraved like snail shells into the legs and encrusted with similarly shaped gold designs, sporting branches that came to a point. The names of the donators are written on the wood. This table dates back to about 200-250 years ago, some time during the ruling of the Qing dynasty. It has never been refinished, with the only addition being the piece of glass that sits on top. The table was a gift from the Qianlong Emperor, who reigned from the 1750’s until the 1790’s, congratulating the Lai family for creating this temple.

Statues on a nearby table were also from the Qing Dynasty, from the Daoguang emperor. They reside atop a newer table engraved more elegantly than the last, with larger gold designs cut into the side. There were nine statues in total, with five standing equipped with gold robes and four sitting with colourful cloaks on top of red thrones. Three of the four sitting had orange cylinders of paper wrapped around their head, preventing the spirit residing inside the statue from escaping. During a ceremony held once a year (the name wasn’t translated to me) the spirits came to fill the statue, and after were trapped.

            Regarding the Instagram, I keep pushing for more followers but its difficult! I have tracked the statistics from the account using the website Iconosquare, and have seen some trends. The most popular posts so far have been the post of the dragon mural behind the temple and the post of the temple costumes. I believe this has been so because I think the quality of the photos are high and they are very different and interesting to look at. I have tried to replicate the types of photos, but to no avail. Maybe one direction we should consider taking is posting more photos of the gods along with a story, I believe that will spark more interest in other users and act as a guide for people that wish to visit the temple and only speak English. Lastly, Iconosquare has a cool tool, which allows you to make a cover photo for Facebook of your most recent 50 Insta photos. Could be an option!